1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to patient transport systems, and more particularly, to a patient transport system for transferring an immobile patient from a bed to a gurney or vice versa.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It appears to be widely accepted that a major, if not the major, work-related complaint among nurses and hospital nursing staff is back injuries caused by lifting patients and getting them in and out of a bed and to and from a gurney or a stretcher as it is commonly referred to. A survey of existing practices and techniques suggests that there is no widely adopted simple and safe method of transferring patients from a bed to a gurney, or vice versa, without lifting them. There are hoist-type lifts where the patient is suspended in a sling. The sling must be first manipulated under the patient and then the patient must be physically lifted, changing the shape of the body and applying pressures different from those existing on the patient when lying prone in bed. There are also roller boards which are inserted partially under the patient and then the patient is pulled onto the roller board. Again, the patient must be manipulated to allow the board to be inserted and then the body is pulled onto the board. In the end, the patient ends up on the board, not on the gurney or the bed. An additional disadvantage of the roller board is that either the patient must cooperate with the transferrer or more than one transferrer is required to effect the transfer. Patients have also been known to drop off the roller boards and to land on the floor between the bed and the gurney.
Also, previous inventions make use of conveyors external to both the bed and the gurney in which the patient is passed from one to the other which results in unnecessary and complex devices and cannot accommodate different sized beds. Such devices are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,163,189; 4,776,047; 4,761,841; 3,810,263; 3,769,642; 3,593,351; 3,413,663; 3,302,219; 2,733,452; 2,630,583; 2,536,707; 1,487,171; 1,263,611; 716,886; and 378,220.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to allow a patient, while lying in the prone position and completely immobile, to be moved by one person of relatively low strength smoothly and safely from a bed onto a gurney and vice versa.
It is also an object of the invention to allow a patient, while lying in a prone position and completely immobile, to be moved by one person of relatively low strength, safely from the bed to the gurney and vice versa, and to accommodate various bed lengths with one conveying apparatus.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a patient transport system for a bed or a gurney which can be easily engaged with the bed or gurney and removed.